Meeting documents

A Presentation by Ed Gurney, Transport Policy Officer, Transport for Buckinghamshire.

Members received a presentation from Ed Gurney, Transport Policy Officer, Transport for Buckinghamshire.

The presentation gave an introduction to the Local Transport Plan 3 (LTP3) and what Parish Councils are being asked to do as part of the engagement, both now and in the future.  The Plan sets the direction of travel and the strategic viewpoint on the way transportation delivers its services.

LTP3 will commence in 2011 and will allow the local highways authority to be more flexible with regard to the delivery of its plan.  It is a 15 year strategy with a rolling three year implementation plan.

LTP2 received reward funding, but the DfT is now not issuing any grants of this nature.  However, the documentation will be used to apply for bids for funding through other channels in the future.

The LTP areas are based on the 19 LAF areas.  However, some of them are grouped together depending on similarities, such as Winslow and Buckingham which are rural areas.  This enables plans and strategies to be developed in order to meet the needs of local people.

The LTP3 pack has been circulated and Parish Councils are being asked to review the LTP3 objectives to ensure service delivery is moving in the right direction over the next 15 years. Parish Councils are asked to feedback their comments by the end of December 2009 on whether the objectives are steering our work in the right direction.  The new LTP goals have been set by the DfT and are more wide ranging than previously.

The results of this consultation will be grouped together into the LTP areas and a technical assessment will also be carried to assess the deliverability of the requests.  There will be a full formal public consultation in the summer of 2010 on the priorities identified.

Rachel Winfield asked where volunteer transport services would be placed. It was noted that they will be included under the Community Transport on Demand Strategic Option.  However, this survey was also an opportunity to add additional options to ensure any issues are highlighted.  Rachel stated that feedback from Parish Plans as well as district-wide feedback emphasised that access to transport was vital and voluntary transport schemes are critical.

Jim Stevens confirmed the need to address rural accessibility across the entire County.  In this connection, a seminar has been arranged for early December, to which District Council lead officers have been invited.  This will lead to a larger conference in early March were the County Council will be developing thinking about the best way to use the bus subsidy and how best we can use volunteer services such as dial a ride.  Karen Adamson said that Sally Hussey from Bucks Community Action was keen to get rural transport up and running.  Karen was also looking at developing the Good Neighbour Scheme in each of the 19 LAF areas, which would particularly benefit rural areas.

Members expressed concern about the short deadline for response.  Ed Gurney stated that in terms of meeting project timescales, it is difficult to extend the deadline beyond the end of December. The Pack had been sent out during October.  However, this was not the last time to engage because there will be a 12 weeks consultation period with formal consultation in 2010.  The Chairman stated that Parish Council timetables may not coincide with the deadline and this needed to be taken into account.

The issue of ‘rat runs’ was raised, particularly in view of the fact that the Forum area is sandwiched between two motorways.  It was noted that this issue can be picked up through items 7 and 10 of the strategic options.  Ed Gurney also urged members to highlight this issue in their responses.

The Chairman thanked Ed Gurney for his presentation.